Apologies

Sorry I've been away so long, Grainiacs.  So much has and is happening.  It seemed I got through the holidays and now January is booking up.  I don't mind telling you I've been overwhelmed and the last thing I've thought about is cutting out carbs.  They are my comfort food and they are also my poison.  I know this.

For years I made New Year's Resolutions.  You know I break them.  You know they make me feel bad about myself.  You know I've chosen to refer to anything I do this year as my New Year Goals.

The other day, Peaches sent in a list of her new healthy choice "go to" foods.  I guess you could call them her new comfort foods.  The great thing about this is she is redefining what will go into her body and she chooses well.  You probably have a list of your own.  Why not share them with me and I'll compile a list for us and post it at the end of the week.  A New Year Strawberry Goal is to NOT go it alone.

Let's choose well, Grainiacs.  2014 is our year.

O.M.G.

Oh my gosh I can barely move! What was I thinking when I popped in that Denise Austin burn the buns video????  LOL  All I can do is laugh at myself.  I think the last time I attempted Denise Austin was back in the late 80's/early 90's.  You want to know how to tell if you are REALLY out of shape? Pop in an exercise video from the 80's because it's been that long since you last attempted to work out to it!

I decided today was a yoga type of day. Soft....gentle....moves.  What's that I hear?  Smack smack.  Oh brother, the dog was bringing his food into the room.  Isn't that sweet? He wants to be near me.  Smack, lick....chomp.  Um, that doesn't sound like his food.  I craned my neck in an unhealthy type of yoga move to see a big black clump.  Oh yuck, he's probably thrown up and is now cleaning up his mess.  I'm not wearing my glasses so it's good I do not see this.  Problem was it was not regurgitated food.  It was chocolates from his Daddy's Christmas box and not just any ole chocolates- no it's the dark chocolate variety!  The cat knocked it off the table and it landed "just right" for the dog to muzzle his way in to!  So much for relaxed ch'i today.

Hope your ch'i is in check and you have a wonderful Tuesday, Grainiacs.  namaste

Where did the year go?

Can you believe it is already 2014?  I was talking with Boy the other day telling him how when I was a kid I thought the year 2000 was.just.like.WOW.man!!!  Totally far out.in the distant future and now all kidding aside, it is a decade after that far off notion of Y2K (which we didn't call it in the 60's, by the way).  So now I guess we are Y2KPlus (as retail mongols like to differentiate their stores one from the other).  Why shop at HEB when you can shop at HEB Plus?  Why just settle for Walmart when you can tickle your pocketbook (am I still showing my age?) at SUPER Walmart?  Oh what fun it is to ride in a one horse fast car plowing down people and stepping on children....HEY! Jingle Bells.

My Y2K Plus will be to slow down. Smell the flowers...or plant them (they've been sitting in their original pots since before Thanksgiving). Cook more and eat out less.  Use what I have and not spend on more.  Don't save items until the perfect day or perfect situation.  I received cute hand towels for Christmas. They are new. Christmas is over. Therefore the hand towels get stored away in a box (maybe I'll remember that box next Christmas or more than likely not).  Hand lotions. Beautiful soaps. Wonderful smelling candles.  All get saved or put away for that special time. That meaningful occasion.  Guess what?  They get lost.  They expire.  They mold or wear out or smell out or just don't get out of the box and wind up in a garage sale or at Goodwill or in the garbage.  Well, not this year, sister!  This is my user year.

So if you come over and see a snowman on my hand towels that means I am keeping the Christmas season alive throughout the year.  If I have a fall aroma in the house-- Great!  I love thinking about the changing of the leaves and my mind's eye sees the beautiful fall foliage.  I am also bringing out those old 80's videos I used to exercise to.  I'll use them till the VCR gives out or the tape snaps because that will be my motto-- use it till it snaps.  Hopefully it won't be my knees snapping!

I refused to make any "new year's resolutions;" it's too sad when I break one or five on January 2.  Instead I'm making a list of new year's goals.  This is my Y2K Plus.  How about you?

Switch it up

Whew, grainiacs....that's all I can say-- Whew!!!!  Rev. Hubby's staff party is behind us and now I can relax get started on that paper that's due and oh yeah, Christmas shopping. 

I think I'd like to switch things up next year.  First of all, I'm hoping the staff party can be in say....November or January!  Why a Christmas Staff party?  Why not a Thanksgiving Staff Party (we are so thankful for you!) or an It's a New Year Staff party (we had a great last year, let's have a wonderful new year!).  The possibilities are endless and I don't think I'm being a bah humbug by suggesting this.  We get so busy during this season that we miss why we are celebrating-- it's just running from one thing to another.  Maybe this is the tired Strawberry talking and perhaps I'll feel differently next year, but I'd like to mark it on my calendar and remember this. 

Happy Strawberry.  (thank you, Bing images!)

Speaking of remembering, I have a wonderful Frank Lloyd Wright calendar up on my wall.  I'm off to mark this thought in my November.

And speaking of switching things up: I'm eating a hamburger patty for breakfast and plan to have an omelet for lunch.  I'm back on my NO GRAINS for December and January.  I'm marking that on my calendar too!  Last night one of our guests had stopped off at Whataburger and picked up a hamburger patty sans bun.  He has celiac disease and cannot have any gluten....none....and so he brings his own for fear some form of gluten has touched the food.  If you aren't being careful, your floured hands might brush against the "gluten-free" meat you are cooking.  It is just easier for him to bring his own than take a chance.  It is a given.  If he comes, he is eating his food.  That got me thinking; if this big strong man can sit comfortably and eat his patty without a bun, I sure can refrain from eating sugary, grain-filled, scrumptious, chocolatey, gooey (I better stop) foods and not feel funny about it.  I'll just tell people it gives me the runs.  Nothing embarrassing about that, right?  LOL  Well, just shy of confessing that lie, I can abstain and just say "I don't feel like eating that today."  I don't know why I get embarrassed to admit I'm dieting.  Maybe it's the failure factor and when if (see?!) it doesn't happen, I won't have to endure the "I knew it" feelings.  What a game I play with myself.  So hold me accountable, Grainiacs; I'm counting on you!

Happy Friday.  I'll keep you posted on my strawberry switchin' it up ideas.  I know you are sitting on pins and needles just waiting to hear..... 

Hello?  

Anybody out there?

and the busier keep on....

Believe it or not, I have another party tonight at Home, Crap, Home.  Here we go again stuffing things in nooks and crannies so the house looks immaculate....just don't open a door or cabinet!

I keep saying "one day," don't I?  I think it is my mantra.  It will be carved on my tombstone....ONE DAY!!!

So today I'll be organizing and getting ready for the staff party tonight.  We've been here for a year so most know me pretty well.  Maybe I'm getting to the stage of my life where I just don't care what people think about the house.  Or, maybe I'm just not feeling it!  LOL  remember that phrase?  Call it what you will, it's just procrastination.

Yesterday I was talking with a grainiac complaining how I complain about losing weight but I'm not really doing anything about it. I complain about the house, but let's face it, other things are just more fun.  "That bag of chips and dip is calling my name."  "Why clean the house too soon before the party, it will just get dirty again."  Excuses, excuses.  Procrastination with a capital P.  I am going to embrace my inner self....that includes Moana.  I will love me for me.  Instead of working on so many changes at once, I'll change one thing (I really think I've said this before!!!  ;) )).  Hold me accountable, Grainiacs.  Don't let me slip. I'm counting on you!

Open Sesame!

Confession: I forgot to take pictures.  I'm falling down on the job, I know!

Sunday, Rev. Hubby and I hosted a Holiday Open House at the manse.  I baked and baked and posted all the cookies and bars and goodies I made the other day, remember?  Well, guess what?  There are so many parties happening and events going on, that my kitchen bar is still full of cookies and goodies!!!  About 35 people came (we have about 300 coming to church) and those 35 people didn't eat much!!!  Ahhhhhh.  Hahahaha...I'm not upset about the number of people who attended; I hear our church has not had an event like this for several years so they aren't used to coming.  On a more sinister note: I thought people would come just to see what the house looked like! (Am I the only curious one in this church?)  Bless them; they weren't snoopy.  Darn them; I have all this chocolate still in my house!!!!! Family: guess what you are getting for Christmas; yes, homemade goodies!

Every morning I walk out to my kitchen and there loaded on the counter tops are all those left-over goodies...reminding me: eat me!  Yesterday I packed some up and loaded them into the freezer.  At Boy's scout meeting, they celebrated the season and so I dished up a tasty tray for him to take.  Gotta love the boy scouts....they eat!  I think one or two morsels came back home.

Tis the season for eating and loving and giving.  Have a blessed day, Grainiacs, and feel free to come on over.  I have coffee and goodies (I guess that's not a great thing to post since this is about my weight loss journey  or should I say "roller coaster?").

Soaring High

The Eagle has landed in the strawberry patch-- the Eagle Scout, that is.  Boy has completed all his requirements and has jumped through every hoop and has now joined the ranks with all the other Eagle Boy Scouts.  What a relief!  He turns 18 in 10 days and all the badges, meetings, and reviews needed to be completed BEFORE that blessed day.  Unfortunately the apple doesn't fall far from the tree and procrastination is his middle name (as well as his mother and his father!) so it was looking pretty "iffy" about getting it all done before the deadline.  Now that it is completed, he is feeling pretty good.  He is singing and laughing more.

I know the feeling.  I have my soaring days and I have my "can't get my bottom off the ground" days too.  Sometimes they are on the same day.  Isn't it funny how life is like a roller coaster?  You can't have those highs 24-7....well you can, but most likely you are popping or smoking something!

Several days ago, Jelly Bean responded to one of my posts.  It was so uplifting and apropos for all of our journeys, I thought I'd share it with you (with her permission, of course): 

(She heard or thought about a John Denver's song "Almost Heaven" as she writes) Think about driving down the road and watching the scenery pass you by (if you stare at it long enough you will need Dramamine to settle a big case of Motion Sickness!). If that happens you will truly miss what miracles are happening around you, at the exact moment that God gives them to you.  The flowers that you painted show the glories of God's handiwork as the sun rises in the morning and sets in the evening.  God has given you a wonderful gift, that is the gift that is opened every morning, you never know what is inside but it is wrapped in the warmth of a warm fall breeze, the kiss of a raindrop that falls on your face, the smell of a hot apple pie fresh out of the oven.  Looking back is OK, but looking ahead is even better.  God promises us today, living life for Him each day, starting each brand new day, looking toward the sunrise, and feeling the warmth of His love everyday, What-ifs, are good, but What wills are even better.

What a beautiful sentiment this glorious day.  Thank you, Jelly Bean and thank you, Grainiacs.  Advent blessings to you.

P.S. Just had a great visit with Peaches.  Why do those visits go by so fast, though?